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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

If you’ve been lucky enough to experience the ear-drum blowing, arm-hair-raising, and just truly phenomenal sound-system at U-Street Music Hallhere in DC, you know that this club and the immensely-talented DJ’s from around the globe that play there have every crowd walking out the door semi-delirious and blissfully dripping in sweat.

This Saturday (6/19) will be no exception when Holy Ghost!the talented DJ duo from NYC, will be taking over the soon-to-be-(if not already)-legendary club, spinning some seriously serious indie-dance/neu-disco/pop-radness [or insert alt-genre of choice here] to ensure that everyone in the room is grooving.

Holy Ghost! are Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, a DJ duo since 2003 who have long worked together as musicians, having grown up in the Empire State and still residing in the never-sleeping city of Brooklyn, NYC. Meeting in Elementary School, the two played in a rock band together (they still keep it real on tracks and record all of their instruments into pro-tools) and subsequently a hip-hop group by the name of Automato where they met Mr. James Murphy, the electronic-mastermind behind LCD Soundsystem and co-founder of DFA Records. Holy! released their first single (and my fave original track) ‘Hold On’ on DFA in ’04 and have since remixed a number of notable artists, including Moby, Cut Copy, MGMT and recently the track “Drunks Girls” from the new LCD Soundsystem album.

Alex! of Holy Ghost! was kind enough to answer a few questions for us via email, a few questions that I know we were all dying to find out . . . thoughts on U-hall, the Big-V, quantification's of cool, and other very, very important thangs.

TVD: Have you guys ever played in DC before? Have you heard about the radness of the U-Street Music Hall Sound System?? Not specifically, but have only heard AMAZING things about U-Hall in general. It's rare that a clubs' name is passed between artists as frequently as I've heard that name the last few months...very excited to play there.

TVD: You guys have been killing it with the ‘neu-disco’… what do you think about the genre and what other artists out there are you guys diggin’ at the moment?Something about that genre name - not the genre, just the name - just doesn't sit well with me - I think it's almost an aesthetic thing, it's just ugly and temporary looking. It's like a really shit new condo versus a pre-war. "Hi, we've revamped the classic sounds of yesteryear!" Eh...I like the term pop music for our music. But yeah, I know what it means and roughly who it refers to. People I like that would fit under the roof of the genre: Jacques Renault, Still Going, Shit Robot, Classixx, Todd Terje, Aeroplane, Mike Simonetti...

TVD: Anyone you would really like to collab with? (Dead or alive- lets get crazy here...) Andre 3000, Stevie Nicks or Bernie Worell (Talking Heads' keyboardist). Or Tony Thompson, the drummer for Chic.

TVD: At the end of the night, how do you know you really put on a good show?It's interesting. With DJ'ing you know how you're doing because people are either dancing or they're not, it's that simple. Playing live is more complicated because the audience may be standing still, but that could just be that TYPE of crowd or that VENUE or that CITY, etc. Also, I could feel like I played awfully, but Nick might feel like he played his best, so we don't know until we walk off stage and ask each other "How'd you feel?" and most of the time the answer is "Fine, it was a show, let's load out quick so we can have a few beers."

TVD: Any plans on ever moving outta NYC? Do you think any other cities compare? I love LA and Austin, no offense to anyone else, but those places just resonate with me. Probably because of the friends. But yeah, after 27 years in NYC, I think I owe myself 6 months in LA at some point.

TVD: As you know, this interview is for The Vinyl District…. any thoughts on the big V? Do you spin vinyl or are you mostly Serato dudes?We play a mix of Vinyl and CD's. Vinyl sounds better than anything, end of story, but I could care less what someone is using if they sound good. We both still buy a lot of new and old Vinyl.

TVD: Which of you two is cooler and why?Nick. Always has, always will be. I'm too talkative, a lot more room for error.

TVD: Who’s the better dancer?We both need lessons.

TVD: Celebrity crush? Go. John C Reilly.

Holy Ghost! have just released a discolicious EP, Static on the Wire, which you can DL on Amazon.

The sound system at U-hall (as many U-streeters call it) is quickly becoming well-known by party-goers and professionals alike. If you are not already aware, the bass at U-hall can quite literally vibrate a full beer-can off of a table. The club, which opened in March of this year, boasts a ‘no-frills’ policy with no bottle service or pretension and just an amazing dance/music experience to be had. “It’s been built from the ground up to be a world class venue hosting both DJs and live acts,” states long-time DJ and DC resident Will Eastman. Eastman is co-owner of U-Street Music Hall along with fellow renowned DJ, Jesse Tittsworth.

So, come! Show off your fancy footwork this Saturday at 1115 U Street in NW DC (next to the 7-11) . . . I guarantee you, you will dance like an asshole (I mean, you will dance like Micheal Jackson), sweat your balls off (or other unmentionables) and really just have the time of your life.

WIN 2 TICKETS to Saturday's show courtesy of U-Street Music Hall, by telling us (in the comments section) a little bit about your favorite/signature dance move. The raddest answer shall win (winners contacted FRIDAY at noon), and PLEASE, include your email address in the post!

My signature move would have to be the "breast box" which consists of my arms moving breast-stroke style while my feet are killing the box step. Definitely not a move to try sober but somewhat of a reflex as the night progresses.